I-Team: Feds Investigate Infomercial King
Reporting
Joe Bergantino
BOSTON (WBZ) ― He's considered the king of the infomercial. Lynn native Kevin Trudeau has sold millions of books and has made the New York Times best seller list. So why do many people who bought his books feel cheated? And why is the federal government after him?
"Virtually every person who has credit card debt can cut their payments in half, in half virtually overnight?." That's what Kevin Trudeau says can happen if you buy his book "Debt Cures: What They Don't Want You To Know About."
Janis Fontana saw Trudeau's infomercial about the book. She says she decided to buy it because Trudeau said it had secrets about reducing credit card debt you couldn't find anywhere else. But when she read it, this was her reaction, "I don't think there's anything in the book that's not common knowledge." And when Janis tried to take advantage of the 30-day money back guarantee, she got another surprise. "They said to me, 'You're over your thirty days'. So I said no, I just got this book on December 24th and they said it goes by the date it's shipped and it was shipped November 27th."
Kevin Trudeau has been touting cures for lots of different things in self-published books like "Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About" and "More Natural Cures Revealed." The books have sold more than 10 million copies. Trudeau, who grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts has not only caught the attention of consumers, but law enforcement as well.
In 1991, Trudeau was convicted of credit card fraud in Massachusetts and spent 21 months in jail. In 1998, the Federal Trade Commission barred him from making false or unsubstantiated claims about any product. He paid a $500,000 fine. In 2003, the FTC filed a preliminary injunction against Trudeau for violating the 1998 order. Then in 2004, Trudeau was found in contempt of that injunction. He paid $2,000,000 to settle the case. He was also banned from making infomercials except in the case of books or other publications, as long as the infomercials were truthful.
In 2007, Trudeau began airing an infomercial for a new book, "The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You to Know About." In the infomercial, Trudeau claims you can lose 30 pounds in 30 days, with no restrictions and no exercise. He says "It's the fastest, easiest, most effective way to lose weight."
Mike McDonald of Webster bought the pitch and the book. He was surprised at what he found inside. One of the recommendations for phase one of the diet is "Go to a licensed colon therapist and under their supervision and guidance receive 15 colonics."
Mike says in the next phase, you had to have daily hormone injections. In the infomercial, Trudeau never mentions that a hormone needs to be injected, or that you need a doctor's prescription to get the hormone in the first place. In Mike's opinion, the diet is anything but easy. "I went on the Web and looked up this guy and his books and felt pretty silly," says Mike.
As a result of the weight loss infomercial, the Federal Trade Commission is again taking Trudeau to court for false advertising. The FTC is also going after a Beverly, Massachusetts company, ITV, which produced that infomercial. ITV says it gets a percentage of the book sales and also handles customer complaints.
After all these complaints and legal actions, why is Trudeau still on the air?
"Government agencies are almost always going to be behind the curve on this," says Northeastern Law Professor Richard Daynard.
Daynard says the FTC is under-funded and hard-pressed to keep up with salesmen like Trudeau. "He's going to get out of whatever box the FTC tries to put him in. The only kind of box to put him in where he'll stay is a prison."
As a result of a recent court ruling, "The Weight Loss Cure" infomercial has been taken off the air. The lawyer for ITV in Beverly, which made the infomercial, says the company has done nothing wrong and is fighting the FTC in court. As for Kevin Trudeau, on the advice of his lawyer, he refused an on-camera interview. Trudeau's attorney believes that in the infomercial, he fairly describes his weight loss book and that the government shouldn't be deciding whether the book is right or wrong.
(? MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Reporting
Joe Bergantino
BOSTON (WBZ) ― He's considered the king of the infomercial. Lynn native Kevin Trudeau has sold millions of books and has made the New York Times best seller list. So why do many people who bought his books feel cheated? And why is the federal government after him?
"Virtually every person who has credit card debt can cut their payments in half, in half virtually overnight?." That's what Kevin Trudeau says can happen if you buy his book "Debt Cures: What They Don't Want You To Know About."
Janis Fontana saw Trudeau's infomercial about the book. She says she decided to buy it because Trudeau said it had secrets about reducing credit card debt you couldn't find anywhere else. But when she read it, this was her reaction, "I don't think there's anything in the book that's not common knowledge." And when Janis tried to take advantage of the 30-day money back guarantee, she got another surprise. "They said to me, 'You're over your thirty days'. So I said no, I just got this book on December 24th and they said it goes by the date it's shipped and it was shipped November 27th."
Kevin Trudeau has been touting cures for lots of different things in self-published books like "Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About" and "More Natural Cures Revealed." The books have sold more than 10 million copies. Trudeau, who grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts has not only caught the attention of consumers, but law enforcement as well.
In 1991, Trudeau was convicted of credit card fraud in Massachusetts and spent 21 months in jail. In 1998, the Federal Trade Commission barred him from making false or unsubstantiated claims about any product. He paid a $500,000 fine. In 2003, the FTC filed a preliminary injunction against Trudeau for violating the 1998 order. Then in 2004, Trudeau was found in contempt of that injunction. He paid $2,000,000 to settle the case. He was also banned from making infomercials except in the case of books or other publications, as long as the infomercials were truthful.
In 2007, Trudeau began airing an infomercial for a new book, "The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You to Know About." In the infomercial, Trudeau claims you can lose 30 pounds in 30 days, with no restrictions and no exercise. He says "It's the fastest, easiest, most effective way to lose weight."
Mike McDonald of Webster bought the pitch and the book. He was surprised at what he found inside. One of the recommendations for phase one of the diet is "Go to a licensed colon therapist and under their supervision and guidance receive 15 colonics."
Mike says in the next phase, you had to have daily hormone injections. In the infomercial, Trudeau never mentions that a hormone needs to be injected, or that you need a doctor's prescription to get the hormone in the first place. In Mike's opinion, the diet is anything but easy. "I went on the Web and looked up this guy and his books and felt pretty silly," says Mike.
As a result of the weight loss infomercial, the Federal Trade Commission is again taking Trudeau to court for false advertising. The FTC is also going after a Beverly, Massachusetts company, ITV, which produced that infomercial. ITV says it gets a percentage of the book sales and also handles customer complaints.
After all these complaints and legal actions, why is Trudeau still on the air?
"Government agencies are almost always going to be behind the curve on this," says Northeastern Law Professor Richard Daynard.
Daynard says the FTC is under-funded and hard-pressed to keep up with salesmen like Trudeau. "He's going to get out of whatever box the FTC tries to put him in. The only kind of box to put him in where he'll stay is a prison."
As a result of a recent court ruling, "The Weight Loss Cure" infomercial has been taken off the air. The lawyer for ITV in Beverly, which made the infomercial, says the company has done nothing wrong and is fighting the FTC in court. As for Kevin Trudeau, on the advice of his lawyer, he refused an on-camera interview. Trudeau's attorney believes that in the infomercial, he fairly describes his weight loss book and that the government shouldn't be deciding whether the book is right or wrong.
(? MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
..I heard the most recent infomercial where some guy bought out KT's book on Natural Cures..I'll bet he's sweating now....ALOT of Kt's fortune will go to lawyers fees,but he probably has a couple mil hidden somewhere...Thanks for posting about it Doc...
